Pain is more than a sensory experience. It is an innate survival mechanism with the power to protect and teach us how to engage with the world around us.
It is that first experience of touching a hot stove that keeps us wary in the kitchen, the first recovery from an injury that keeps us coming back to doctors for help, and the first heartbreak that helps us learn strategies for future loss. Pain is more than just sensation, but incorporates emotional and cognitive components as well.
These myriad dimensions of pain are not only what gives rise to its unique subjective experience but also what researchers and doctors leverage when generating placebo effects. In relation to pain, placebo analgesia is when the brain is “tricked” into thinking an inert substance will work to reduce pain, and does.
